Soeobo Pacific Model Railroad

The  Burlington rostered 10 USRA design 0-8-0 locomotives in the F-1 class. They are one of the few classes of CB&Q steamers that can be accurately modeled from a mass-produced plastic model. On the whole, the CB&Q preferred 0-6-0s for most switching duties and had comparatively few 0-8-0s. The F-1 switchers were mainly used in the large classification yards such as Cicero, IL or Beardstown in Southern Illinois coal country. Several years ago, I purchased a Walthers Proto USRA 0-8-0 that was factory painted as CB&Q 542. The engine is very well detailed and is a quiet runner. It came with a QSI sound decoder that was a little….meh.    It ran fine and sounded okay. I used it on my home layout but never gave it any upgrades or improvements. Eventually the tinny chuff and generic whistle began to get on my nerves. With the first section of my new layout under construction, I was inspired to spiff up the 542 and do some switching on what will eventually become an i...

This is a train I put together for my Dad’s birthday. He has a small train set to go around the Christmas tree. Really just a circle of track with a power pack. I thought he would enjoy a nicer steam engine with sound to show off. He’s not a “serious” model railroader, does not use DCC, and likes his trains to be as simple as possible. I wanted to get him a train that included some (literal) bells and whistles while also requiring no additional learning curve. The engine is a RTR Roundhouse model with a factory installed MRC sound decoder. It runs surprisingly smooth for a 20-year-old engine, and the colorful paint scheme is great for a holiday display.  The MRC sound system was key in deciding to go with this engine. The engines produced in the mid 2000’s came with a radio remote to control some sounds. Since my Dad doesn’t have a DCC system, the remote allows him to blow the whistle and ring the bell without buying a new controller. There aren’t as many sound options or prototypi...

The Burlington rostered 205 mikados in 4 classes, O-1 through O-4. All but the 8 USRA heavy mikes in the O-4 class were of the CB&Q’s own design. I had long wanted to model one of these quintessential Burlington engines, but wasn’t able to find one of the available brass models at a reasonable price. The answer was to make a reasonable model out of a readily available plastic engine. I remembered that Athearn Genesis made a USRA light 2-8-2 with a high headlight resembling the look of the Burlington’s mikes. A few detail changes would result in a “good enough” O-1A. I found an undecorated version at a train show to use as a starting point. The Genesis mikados have a unique design. The engine picks up power only from the drive wheels. A “tail” containing the DCC socket hangs off the rear of the cab and sits inside a cavity in the tender. There are no electrical connections to the tender at all. The DCC socket (and attached decoder) can slide in and out of the cavity when the engine ...

The LMB boiler required extensive modifications to make it fit over the Walthers mechanism. The boiler is designed to fit over a motor mounted in the cab. The Walthers motor and weight sits further forward, as typical for more modern mechanisms. I used a Dremel cutting wheel to enlarge the cutout just ahead of the firebox, taking a little off at a time and test fitting the Walthers mechanism until everything fit together without interference. I also removed some of the boiler-mounted details to make access to the area easier. These will be replaced later. Photos show the cylinders of the M-4a are centered on the smokestack, and that’s how I positioned the mechanism along the boiler. This left a space between the rear end of the Walthers frame and the rear endplate under the LMB cab. I used heavy styrene strip to build a frame extension, shaping it to approximate the side bearers of the trailing truck. This assembly also serves as the mounting point for the drawbar. I attached it to the...

  I’ve had an LMB CB&Q 2-10-4 in my project backlog for several years.  It’s a brass model from the 1960s and is pretty crude even by 1960s standards.  But it and a nearly identical version imported by Nickel Plate Products are the only options to affordably model one of these signature Burlington engines.  I planned to use it as a base to make a much better looking and running model.   The most serious deficiency of the LMB 2-10-4 is the running gear.  It looks nothing like the prototype.  The M-4a’s had a very distinctive look with a disc center on the main driver and a very heavy counterweight on the 4th axle.  LMB’s model appears to use generic drivers, capturing none of this.  LMB also used Walschaerts valve gear instead of the correct Baker type.  To remedy this, I decided to repower the model using a modern chassis from a Walthers Proto USRA Heavy 2-10-2.  The driver diameter, driver spacing, and cylinder size of the USRA...